'Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence' by Max Tegmark

 Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Max Tegmark (3.5)

Tough book to read – due to technical content, story-telling flow and disturbing matters to consider. I liked the thought provoking ‘what-if’ scenarios which included things I had not considered before, but I felt the narrative strayed in the middle of the book to where I questioned the points being made. The author is definitely a thoughtful expert on AI, it’s current state and all the possible ways AI can progress. I particularly liked the first and last 20% of the book and wish there could be a shorter version for most readers. He ends with a relatively positive outlook that describes how a large group of AI experts are currently working on a framework to keep AI safe going forward. And encourages us to all be ‘mindful optimists’ with a goal to own technology (since it is here to stay) and not let it own us.

'Recursion' by Blake Crouch

 Recursion, Blake Crouch (3.5)

Blake Crouch consistently blows my mind. In ‘Dark Matter’, that was a great thing, in this book it was not as good. He gets full marks for creativity and his writing is generally excellent. The fault I found here is the same as what drives my intolerance for the movie, ‘Ground Hog Day’, I find repeated timelines can be boring. His multiple timelines in ‘Dark Matter’ were like multiple existences, here it is more about changing memories by traveling back in time. I did like the social and personal issues brought up with these concepts, but I was bored and depressed though much of the book.